ECONOMIC, ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION
Abstract:
In the international literature, the pros and cons of renal transplantation are analyzed in comparison to performing hemodialysis over a long time; compatible living donor renal transplantation has the best impact on increasing the length and quality of life. The World Health Organization recently draws attention to the issue of illegal organ trafficking for profit (for example, China, with organs taken from politically executed prisoners in Tianjin Hospital and the sect named Falung Gong). It highlights the importance of medical tourism for kidney transplantation in countries such as India, China, Korea etc. due to substantial savings that can be made for beneficiaries from the United States and the Western of Europe, who receive “cheap” (trafficked) organs and with a low cost of the surgical interventions and of the post-transplant care. On specialized websites on the Internet there are given a series of comparative costs of organ trafficking in different countries and addresses of hospitals that perform such surgeries.
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